Today is a really big day for all of us together and we are excited to share that the Second Life portion of CasperTech is being acquired by Linden Research, Inc.
CasperTech has provided various business related services within Second Life for 13 years. Over that time, CaperTech has proudly provided continuous service for tens of thousands of Second Life businesses, and it has remained steadfast in its commitment to the merchants who have depended on those services.
This acquisition will ensure that all of the existing CasperTech services in Second Life will continue to operate without interruption into the foreseeable future, but it also opens up brand new opportunities to vastly improve the experience for our users as our next step in the CasperTech and Second Life journey.
You can expect to see the same great services that you know and love continue on, with all of the same functionality you enjoy today, but with closer integration into the Second Life ecosystem – and as such, an even more reliable and convenient experience.
We wouldn’t have gone forward with this move if we weren’t absolutely confident that it will be a positive change for all Residents and CasperTech customers.
We hope that you are as excited about this change as we are, and we thank you for your continued support as we all step boldly into the future together!
We have started a forum discussion here for anyone interested in participating with questions.
You can also watch Casper and I on a special pre-recorded Lab Gab today at 10:30am SLT!
The Second Life Team and Casper Warden, CasperTech LTD Have a great week from all of us at Zoha Islands and Fruit Islands
London in Second Life Flooded With Mourners & Well-Wishers At News of Queen Elizabeth’s Death; UPDATE: Added SLImage Tributes
As news of Queen Elizabeth’s death spreads across the globe, mourners in the virtual world of Second Life have been converging into London City, a sprawling island devoted to the UK’s capital. I have tried over the last hour to take photos of the impromptu memorial, but as avatars keep teleporting into London, the surroundings continue to be a blurry as actual London in the worst fog imaginable.
You can see them in the screenshot here, green dots indicating users from around the world, piling into the town square, where the British flag has been lowered to half-mast, and the audio stream has been changed from the usual Britpop music to somber songs played on piano and pan flute.
“May she be in God’s arms half hour before the devil knows she’s gone,” announces a mourner in chat.
“There is music on the stream now,” says someone who helps manage London. “I hope it is fitting. I’m raising a glass to Her Majesty The Queen!”
As is often the case, the serendipitous mourning is basically SLers gathering and chatting together in the wake of monumental offline news at a virtual world location with some mirror relationship to that news. (See also: Mourners outside the virtual recreation of the Eiffel Tower, after a terrorist attack in Paris.)
And as also befits Second Life, the arriving mourners include Superman in a Batman helmet, a sentient dog, and a humanoid fox (not to be confused), along with various supermodels. Many or most are from the UK, but mourners and well-wishers from outside Britain are arriving too:
“My condolences for your loss from Germany,” says one.
“Even here in Switzerland they cancelled the normal programming,” says another, standing next to an angel and a dragon in knight’s armor. “It’s surreal.”
More images when (if?) the lag ebbs!
Update: Cajsa just sent me this somber image by Dazler Resident — “RIP Queen Elizabeth II”, shot in St Alban’s Church in Alba:
Also this one via Cajsa by Calamity Clowie — “I Rather It Were Coronation Day”:
to Animate Avatars With Webcams & Mocap Equipment in Real Time
Impressive unveiling by Linden Lab just now — real time puppetry for Second Life avatars:
We have been working on this feature for some time and now we are ready to open it up to the Second Life community for further development and to find out what amazing things our creators will do with this new technology… The codebase is alpha level and does contain its share of rough edges that need refinement, however the project is functionally complete and it is possible for the scriptors and creators of Second Life to start to try it out.
This is not just a lightweight “wave into your webcam and your avatar waves too” technology (which has existed for many years) but is meant to integrate much more devices — and the whole avatar:
We are excited about Puppetry’s potential to change the way we interact inside Second Life. For example, using a webcam to track your face and hands could allow your avatar to mimic your face animations and finger movement, or more natural positioning of the avatar’s hands and feet against in-world objects might also be possible. Alternative hardware could be used to feed information into Second Life to animate your avatar – a game controller or mocap equipment. There’s a lot to explore and try, and we invite the Second Life community to be involved in exploring the direction of this feature.
What’s even more exciting is that Second Life avatars recently got a Bento skeleton update, which makes them extremely articulate. You can see that in recent SL pics featured by Cajsa, where an avatar’s fingers down to individual joints are highly expressive.
Read about the announcement here,
Introducing Second Life Puppetry
Entry posted by Linden Lab
Photo by Alexa Linden
The idea
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could animate your avatar in real time? What if you could wave your arm and your avatar could mimic your motions? Or imagine if your avatar could reach out and touch something inworld or perform animations? Linden Lab is exploring these possibilities with an experimental feature called “Puppetry.”
We have been working on this feature for some time and now we are ready to open it up to the Second Life community for further development and to find out what amazing things our creators will do with this new technology.
The codebase is alpha level and does contain its share of rough edges that need refinement, however the project is functionally complete and it is possible for the scriptors and creators of Second Life to start to try it out.
See the section below “How to participate” to learn how to use Puppetry yourself.
Take a Look
We have some basic things working with a webcam and Second Life but there’s more to do before it’s as animated as we want.
Puppetry Technology
Puppetry accepts target transforms for avatar skeleton bones and uses inverse kinematics (IK) to place the connecting bones in order for the specified bones to reach their targets. For example the position and orientation “goal” of the hand could be specified and IK would be used to compute how the forearm, elbow, upper arm, and shoulder should be positioned to achieve it. The IK calculation can be tricky to get right and is a work in progress.
The target data is supplied by a plug-in that runs as a separate process and communicates with the viewer through the LLSD Event API Plug-in (LEAP) system. This is a lesser known functionality of the Viewer which has been around for a while but has, until now, only been used for automated test and update purposes.
The Viewer transmits the Puppetry data to the region server, which broadcasts it to other Puppetry capable Viewers nearby. The receiving Viewers use the same IK calculations to animate avatars in view.
For more details about the Puppetry technology, take a look at the Knowledge Base article Puppetry : How it Works
Uses and Possibilities
We are excited about Puppetry’s potential to change the way we interact inside Second Life. For example, using a webcam to track your face and hands could allow your avatar to mimic your face animations and finger movement, or more natural positioning of the avatar’s hands and feet against in-world objects might also be possible. Alternative hardware could be used to feed information into Second Life to animate your avatar – a game controller or mocap equipment. There’s a lot to explore and try, and we invite the Second Life community to be involved in exploring the direction of this feature.
How to participate
The Puppetry feature requires a project viewer and can only be used on supporting Regions. Download the project Viewer at the Alternate Viewers page. Regions with Puppetry support exist on the Second Life Preview Grid and are named: Bunraku, Marionette, and Castelet.
When using the Puppetry Viewer in one of those regions, if someone there is sending Puppetry data you should see their avatar animated accordingly. To control your own avatar with Puppetry it’s a bit more work to set up the system. You need: a working Python3 installation, a plug-in script to run, and any Python modules it requires. If you are interested and adventurous: please give it a try. More detailed instructions can be found on the Puppetry Development page.
What’s next
We look forward to seeing what our creators do with the new Puppetry technology. Compared to other features we have introduced, it’s quite experimental and rough around the edges, so please be patient! We will keep refining it, but before we go further we wanted to get our residents’ thoughts.
We will be hosting an open discussion inworld on Thursday, Sept 8 1:00PM SLT at the Bunraku, Marionette, and Castelet regions on the Preview Grid. We’re also happy to talk about this at the upcoming Server User Group or Content Creator meetings. Come by, let us know what you think, and hear about our future plans!
My immediate guess is that most Second Life users won’t use avatar puppetry for most occasions — after all, gesticulating into your webcam or with a mocap suit quickly gets exhausting — but it will still be a huge breakthrough for live performers at music/dance/theater shows, along with conference presenters. And yes, for that other use case you thought of first.
Have a great week from all of us at Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands
Photo (c) Peter Dazeley – Getty ImagesIn its latest trend report, the Identity Theft Resource Center (ITRC) says that for victims of identity crimes and compromises, fraud and scams have reached levels that haven’t been seen in the last 20 years.
The ITRC said the biggest increases in the last year shook out like this:
Reports from victims of non-financial account takeover (235% increase over 2020)
Social media account takeover (1,044% increase over 2020)
Identity misuse involving government credentials or accounts (154% increase from 2019-2020 and 7% increase from 2020 to 2021)
When it comes to the targets identity thieves are looking for, the three largest are public agency information such as unemployment, SBA/PPP Loan, IRS info; financial info like checking/savings accounts, credit cards; and, thirdly, medical accounts.
“When we look back on 2021, it was a record-breaking year in so many different areas,” said Eva Velasquez, President and CEO of the Identity Theft Resource Center. “We saw many different forms of identity crimes reach levels we have not seen since we were founded in 1999. With high water marks for identity fraud, compromises, and misuse, it’s important to take protective measures.”
The sad but true adventures of an identity thief
The stories that the ITRC told in its report are pretty sad. One tale of woe came from a victim who said someone tried to apply for a credit card with his child’s personal information.
Another said they received a letter from the unemployment office under her deceased husband’s name – and her husband had passed away nine years earlier.
And ID thieves know no limits, either. An example of that, the ITRC said, came from a representative of a homeless shelter who called on a client’s behalf – a client who was applying for food stamps but was denied because the unemployment office said they had received $10,000 in unemployment funds.
Experts weigh in on how consumers can protect themselves against identity theft
With all that people have to do in their daily lives, the last thing they probably want to spend time on is being vigilant. To help readers focus on a manageable list of items, Consumer Affairs reached out to identity experts. To start, we asked ITRC Chief Victims Officer Mona Terry for her number one recommendation.
Keep your personal info to yourself. “Do not share your personal information, particularly with someone you do not know well,” Terry said. “Personal information includes your username and password, debit/credit card numbers, identification documents, and even one-time passcodes.”
Be careful about public wi-fi. “Be careful utilizing public Wi-Fi at coffee shops and public places, utilize a Virtual Private Network (VPN) on all your devices to make you a harder target,” suggested Christopher Sanders, president of the Palatin Group, a global intelligence and security firm.
Use multi-factor authentication. “The single most important way to protect against cyber threats is to use multi-factor authentication (MFA),” Daniel J. Siegel, secretary in the Law Practice Division at the American Bar Association, said.
“By requiring users to not only login, but also verify their identity by a second separate method, such as a texted code number, you will eliminate the overwhelming majority of threats. Many businesses, such as banks, will allow customers to create a code word for access. Studies show that MFA is the most effective means to protect your information.”
Monitor your credit score frequently. Daniel Markuson, digital privacy expert at NordVPN, gave Consumer Affairs this tip: “Monitor your credit score and use services that allow you to track different factors that influence your score over time. For example, when a scammer steals your identity to open new cards or loans in your name, and there is lack of payment, your credit score will likely drop even when you have not made any credit errors yourself.”
Consider opting out of most prescreened credit offers. ConsumerAffairs credits Texas’ Attorney General Ken Paxton for this. He suggests consumers who are tired of getting unsolicited credit or insurance offers – some of which may be identity thieves who steal mail – they can opt out of those mailings by calling 1-888-567-8688 or going to OptOutPreScreen, the official Consumer Credit Reporting Industry website to accept and process those requests.
Keep an eye out for Google Voice/Insta account takeover scams. “Don’t give verifications codes out to anyone, unless you specifically requested it through a login or other action,” Joshua Pardhe, a cybersecurity researcher at Arizona State University, said. “If anyone sends you a code from their side and asks you to read/send it back, it is an immediate scam.”
Don’t be shy about freezing your credit reports. Hari Ravichandran, founder and CEO at Aura, an online privacy safety service, offered this nugget when it came to credit reports: “One of the best ways to protect against this form of identity theft and protect your financial stability is to lock your credit to prevent criminals from using your stolen personal information against you,” Ravichandran said.
“This is offered through all three major credit bureaus and certain software and can conveniently be switched on and off in order to allow approved third-parties to access reports when needed. If you suspect that your personal information has been compromised in a data breach or otherwise, seriously consider freezing your credit in order to prevent bad actors from opening accounts or taking out loans in your name.”
Stop using weak passwords – like your dog’s name! Naftali Harris, Founder & CEO at SentiLink, said that “Even though a lot of the responsibility for preventing account takeovers and financial crimes lies with financial institutions, the public has to pull its share of the load, too. Using strong, unique passwords for all important services online such as bank accounts, email, and social media, ideally using a password manager.” The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers an excellent primer on how to create good passwords.
Don’t just focus on money-related accounts. “In addition to considering financial implications, you may want to review other types of accounts for misuse or misappropriation,” suggested Jenn Behrens, partner and executive vice president of Privacy and Security at Kuma LLC. “This can include government identities like Social Security numbers, drivers’ license numbers, phone accounts, and benefits. Medical identity theft and child identity theft are different types of fraud that can occur when your identity is stolen and require additional consideration for how to reduce potential negative impacts.”
Resist the click. “When you receive a suspicious email, text, or call, you may be the target of fraud,” suggests Carey O’Connor Kolaja is the CEO of AU10TIX, a provider of fully automated identity verification technology. “Don’t click, respond to or share the message. Screen for inconsistencies such as inaccurate or false information. Instead, reach out to the company or individual that contacted you to confirm their legitimacy.”
Act quickly if your accounts are compromised. Finally, this suggestion from Jim Van Dyke, senior vice president of Innovation at Sontiq, a TransUnion Company: “One of the most important things consumers can do to protect themselves against financial fraud is to take appropriate action when their information is compromised in a data breach. As someone uniquely interested in data breaches, I monitor newly reported data breaches and trends. Recent observation shows the number, and severity, of data breaches has spiked. Previously the average was 5-7 breaches today, and more recently it’s over 30.”
“In light of recent trends, one uncommon piece of advice for consumers who have had their medical account or patient data exposed is to review the safety of their medical information with the Medical Insurance Bureau. Similar to a credit report, consumers can verify the veracity of medical services provided, which may reveal medical ID crimes,” he said.
The ITRC offers both consumers and victims free support and guidance from a knowledgeable live advisor. That assistance is available by calling 888.400.5530 or visiting its live chat page.
Have A Fun And Safe Week From All Of Us At Zoha Islands/Fruit Islands
This week we are shining a spotlight on Prophet (Nightmare Rain) a creative blogger that adds a slice of life narrative to his virtual photography.
How long have you been in Second Life and how did you first hear about it?
I discovered Second Life through Twitch about 10 years ago, which got me interested in roleplay at first.
How did you get into Second Life blogging, and what kind of content do you like to showcase?
I got into blogging once I delved further into the Secondlife community and discovered Flickr. I learned how to do in-world photography and later on, was taught how to photo edit. I developed my own style and learned how to express my creativity through blogging. I tend to lean on the slice-of-life type of pictures, however, I still do throw in some fantasy in the mix now and then.
When taking photos in Second Life, what is your process for creating a narrative/story in the picture?
Life itself is inspiring- one can choose to see beauty in everything and I think we tend to be blind to it because I feel that it is easy to take for granted when we’re comfortable. I like recreating scenarios that most people find themselves in on the daily and showcasing it on my blog using the items made by talented creators in order to depict and illustrate the common, but in such a way that people actually take notice and pause to appreciate them. I also utilize Windlight a lot- Light, shadow, contrast and color create mood and visual weight.
Visual art is such an effective way of expanding ideas about diverse representation and you do that so well with the use of avatar components and tools in Second Life. What inspires your avatar’s styles?
My styles are usually inspired by everyday looks varying from casual to formal- Simple but refined pieces- I let the clothing and accessories speak for themselves as it’s usually what I’m blogging although when I have free time I do take pictures for fun and so with those I tend to focus on what I want to wear rather than what I’ve been sponsored to wear.
Tell us about some of the other Second Life Residents that have inspired you, or whose work you admire.
We hope you enjoyed learning more about Prophet and find his vibrant and diverse images as inspiring as we do.
Each of our Spotlight posts will feature a different Resident to showcase the spectrum of experiences and personalities found in our virtual world. If you have created something inworld that you’re proud of, or have had a deeply meaningful experience that could brighten someone else’s day, please sign up! More info here: https://second.life/spotlight-signup.
Great Blog!
Everyone Enjoy your week from all of us at Zoha Islands/ Fruit Islands
Full video and tips links from this livestream in this post.
Class is back in session! Second Life University returns today at 10am PT with Second Life’s Support Operations Manager Keira Linden and Support Operations Supervisor Tommy Linden. Keira and Tommy will share some Governance tips for staying safe and enjoying your Second Life, as well as keeping your account secure.
These are some of the topics they are planning to cover during the show:
